Circular knitting machines



Dec. 15, 1 959 c. H.WAINWRIGHT CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES Filed Feb. '7, 1956 United States Patent CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES Carlyle Herbert Wainwright, Leicester, England, assignor to The Bentley Engineering Company Limited, Leicester, England Application February 7, 1956, Serial No. 564,037

Claims priority, application Great Britain April 6, 1955 9 Claims. (Cl. 66-14) This invention is for improvements in or relating to circular knitting machines and is concerned with a method and arrangement for mounting a bearing plate of a rotary assembly constituted by a needle bed assembly or cam system in a circular knitting machine of the type having two co-operating needle beds and related cam systems to adapt the machine for rib knitting. The bearing plate may support not only the rotary assembly but also a non rotary assembly associated therewith for example a needle bed and its associated cam system. One particular form of machine to which the invention is especially applicable is a machine of the opposed needle cylinder type.

In circular knitting machines of the opposed needle cylinder type it has been usual to support the top bearing plate from which the upper needle cylinder is suspended upon pillars with the bearing plate spigoted on the tops of the pillars and secured by bolts screwed into the pillar tops. This does not allow for any adjustment of the bearing plate laterally of the pillars. In view of the need for providing adjustability of the top cylinder bearing to permit the extreme accuracy required in aligning the upper cylinder with the lower cylinder it has previously been necessary to permit the whole of the top cylinder bearing and gear carriage together with its housing to be attached adjustably to the bearing plate and for this purpose extra clearance was provided around the top bearing and for the bolts or screws used for attaching the bearing to the bearing plate. This arrangement necessitated having the main drive shaft top bearing contained in the same housing assembly as the mating top cylinder gear otherwise any adjustment of the top cylinder hearing would alter the centers between the drive pinion and cylinder gear. The invention has for one of its objects to provide an improved form of mounting for the bearing plate of a rotary assembly such as a needle bed assembly or cam system facilitating accurate aligning adjustment of the bearing of said assembly, and permitting a desired adjustment to be retained even when the parts are dismantled for inspection or maintenance purposes. Another object is to facilitate accurate readjustment of the bearing of such rotary assembly whenever realignment may be required.

In accordance with the invention there is provided a method of mounting a bearing plate of a rotary assembly such as a needle bed assembly or cam system in a circular knitting machine of the type above specified according to which the bearing plate is supported in a manner permitting its adjustment relatively to its fixing means in directions transversely and circumferentially of the rotary assembly and has co-acting between it and said fixing means a releasable locating arrangement capable when released of permitting said adjustment and when operative of retaining adjusted relationship between the said plate and its fixing means. The bearing of the rotary assembly and a bearing of a drive shaft associated there which can accordingly be located accurately in proper relationship on the bearing plate and when adjustments are 2,916,898 Patented Dec. 15, 1959 required for alignment of the cylinder they can readily be made by shifting the bearing plate bodily after releasing the locating arrangement. The latter may then be made operative to preserve correct positioning of the bearing plate so that it can be removed when required and replaced in the correct setting.

The invention further provides in a circular knitting machine of the type above specified a bearing mounting associated with a rotary assembly such as a needle bed assembly or cam system and comprising a plate carrying a bearing between it and the said assembly, spaced supports to which the plate is adapted to be clamped and relatively to which the plate when unclamped has freedom for adjustment transversely and circumferentially of the said assembly, and releasable locating devices interposed between the plate and said supports for maintaining adjusted relationship between said parts. In a preferred arrangement the inter-engagement between the plate and the said supports is provided by stems and apertures respectively formed on said parts, the stems being engageable in the apertures with clearance sufficient to permit said adjustment, and the releasable locating devices are provided on one of the interengaging parts and are arranged to engage with the apertures or stems of the other interengaging part or parts. Each of the locating devices may comprise a plurality of rod-like bits respectively disposed in angularly olfset throughways in the appropriate stem so as to be adjustable endwise in said throughways and means may be provided for clamping the bits in adjusted position in their throughways.

In applying the invention to a circular knitting machine of orthodox construction the spaced supports for the bearing plate will be constituted by rods which are shouldered for location of the plate endwise thereof, and in carrying out the invention the stems of the rods extending from the shouldered portions are screwed thereon part way of their length to receive clamping nuts for fixing the bearing plate to the support and throughways are formed in the unthreaded portions of said stems to receive bits adapted to engage endwise with apertures formed in the bearing plate, such apertures being clearance apertures for passage of the stems of the rods.

The invention is conveniently applied to a machine having rotating opposed needle cylinders by providing that the bearing plate of a bearing mounting as above mentioned carries the bearing for the rib cylinder and is mounted on three pillars constituting the aforesaid supports, the bearing housing for the rib cylinder being detachably mounted in fixed position on the bearing plate.

The invention includes the provision for use in a knitting machine as aforesaid of a supporting rod formed with a shouldered end portion to engage in a clearance aperture in a bearing plate and having transversely arranged throughways in said end portion and locating plungers or bits contained in said throughways, clamping screws being provided in screw threaded apertures arranged transversely of said throughways for clamping the locating plungers or bits in adjusted position.

Further features of the invention are embodied in a preferred form of construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings and about to be described with reference to those drawings in which Figure 1 is a perspective view looking downwardly on the top bearing plate of the upper part of a knitting machine of the rotary opposed needle cylinder type;

Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view drawn to a scale larger than that of Fig. 1 illustrating the top end of a supporting pillar;

Figure 3 is an enlarged elevation view of a rod-like locating bit;

Figures 4 and 5 are broken away plan views illustrating the location of the bearing plate on one of its pillars, and

Figure 6 is a side elevation view of the top of a supporting pillar showing the manner of securing the locating means.

Figure 1 illustrates sufficient of the upper part of the cylinder supporting means of a circular knitting machine of the opposed needle cylinder type to show the application of the invention thereto. The top bearing plate on which the bearing of the upper or rib cylinder 3 is carried is indicated at 6, and it may also have supported from it a non-rotating cam box as described in co-pending US. application Serial No. 384,448. This plate is supported on posts, rods or pillars 1 and has attached to it a ring shaped bearing housing containing a ball bearing from which the cylinder 3 is suspended and on which it rotates during operation of the machine. A cover plate 4 rotates with the cylinder. The bearing plate 6 also has bolted to it a housing 8 for the upper end hearing of the drive shaft (not shown) which in accordance with normal practice drives the cylinder 3 by means of a pinion on the shaft meshing with a gear wheel secured to the cylinder 3 and contained within the housing 5.

In accordance with the invention adjustment of the cylinder or hearing for accurate alignment purposes is effected by adjustment of the bearing plate 6 transversely of the pillars 1. By reason of such provision for adjustment the housings 5 and 8 are permitted to be separate from one another and fixed separately to the bearing plate 6 in accurately positioned relation thereto. Screws 01' bolts 7 and 13 respectively are used to secure the housings to the plate 6, the housings being positioned for correct meshing of the driving pinion and gear. Thus each housing can be assembled and detached separately facilitating manufacture and maintenance of the machine. The housings 5 and 8 may be accurately positioned on the plate 6 by fitting exactly in accurately machined apertures in the plate or by spigot connections, by the use of dowels or in any other convenient way.

The pillars or posts 1 are reduced in diameter at their upper ends above shoulders 14 on which the plate 6 is located heightwise, the plate 6 being formed with clearance apertures 15 to receive the reduced upper ends of rods 1. Sufficient clearance is provided at the apertures 15 to permit adjustment of the bearing plate 6 transversely of the pillars 1 for alignment of the cylinder 3 with a lower cylinder and may if desired be used to permit angular adjustment of cylinder 3 about its axis for alignment of tricks in the two cylinders. The reduced upper ends of the pillars 1 are screw threaded as at 9 along part of their length to receive clamping nuts 2, and of unthreaded plain cylindrical form as at 10 between the parts 9 and shoulders 14. In the portion 10 of each pillar there are formed two diametrical throughways 18 arranged at right angles to one another at different levels in which are slidably mounted locating plungers or bits 11 having flattened conical ends machined accurately to fit exactly within a diameter of the apertures 15. The upper ends of the pillars 1 have formed in them screw threaded apertures 16 and 17 for the reception of grub screws 12 for clamping the plungers or bits 11 in desired position. It will be seen that the aperture 16 is formed endwise in the top of the pillar 1 axially thereof to open on to the upper throughway 18, while the aperture 17 is formed slantwise to extend upwardly from one side of the pillar below the position of the bearing plate to open on to the lower throughway 18.

Assuming the bearing plate 16 is mounted on the pillars and it is desired to adjust its position transversely thereof or angularly about the cylinder axis the clamping nuts 2 are loosened and the grub screws 12 released to permit movement of the plungers or bits 11. The bearing plate is then bodily adjusted to the required position as permitted by sliding movement of the plungers or bits 11 in their throughways 18 and when so adjusted it may be clamped by means of the nuts 2 and the grub screws 12 screwed home to fix the plungers or bits 11 firmly in adjusted position. When the plungers or bits are thus fixed they define the adjusted setting of the plate 6 which can thereafter be removed from the pillars when necessary after removal of the nuts 2 and subsequently replaced exactly in its previously adjusted position as defined by the bits 11, without requiring any readjustment. Figs. 4 and 5 show respectively different positions of the bits 11 in which the corresponding aperture 15 in the plate 6 is concentrically and eccentrically positioned with respect to the axis of the related pillar 1. Realignment of the setting of the cylinder 3 if and when required is readily possible by readjustment of the plate 6 after releasing the nuts 2 and grub screws 12.

A further advantage of the construction described is that in assembling the parts the top cylinder assembly comprising the cylinder 3, gear carriage, ball race and housing, may be lowered freely into register in the hearing plate 6 independently of the drive shaft top bearing housing 8 seeing that the driving gears are mated by accurately positioning the separate mountings for the shaft bearing 8 and the cylinder housing. With previous arrangements in which it became necessary to combine the top bearing of the drive shaft with the bearing housing of the cylinder it was necessary during assembly first to manoeuvre the combined housing on to the drive shaft before lowering the top cylinder assembly into position and difiiculties due to a tendency for the drive shaft to jam as the assembly was lowered caused this operation to be somewhat intricate. In the present construction on the other hand the mounting of the top cylinder assembly is freed from the inconvenience and the drive shaft bearing can be more readily lowered into place as a separate unit.

I claim:

1. In a circular knitting machine of the type specified the provision in association with a rotary knitting assembly of a bearing mounting comprising a plate, a bearing carrier supported by said plate for mounting said rotary assembly, spaced supports for said plate, interengaging portions formed on said plate and said supports and constituted by stems on the one hand and aperture walls on the other hand which interengage with sufficient clearance to permit the plate to have freedom for adjustment relatively to said supports transversely and circumferentially of the said bearing carrier, and releasable locating devices provided on one of the said interengaging portions, said locating devices being adjustable to take up the clearance between the said stems and apertures in a desired setting of said plate in relation to said supports.

2. A bearing mounting according to claim 1 wherein each of the locating devices comprises a plurality of rod-like bits respectively disposed in angularly ofiset throughways in the appropriate stem so as to be adjustable endwise in said throughways, and means for clamping the bits in adjusted position in their throughways.

3. A hearing mounting according to claim 2 wherein the clamping means are constituted by screws engaging in screw threaded apertures in the stems which apertures open onto the throughways transversely thereof.

4. In a circular knitting machine of the type specified the provision in association with a rotary assembly of a bearing mounting comprising a plate, a bearing carrier for the rotary assembly supported on said plate, spaced supports for the plate, means for locating the plate in relation to said supports such locating means comprising at each support an interengaging stem and apertured portion formed one on the plate and the other on the support and providing clearance for adjustment of the plate, and bits adjustable in transverse throughways in the stems to take up the clearance between them and the apertures, and means for securing the plate to the said supports.

5. A bearing mounting according to claim 4 wherein the spaced supports for the bearing plate are constituted by rods which are shouldered for location of the plate endwise thereof, the stems of the rods extending from the shouldered portions being screw threaded part way of their length to receive clamping nuts for fixing the bearing plate to the support, throughways being formed in the unthreaded portion of said stems to receive the bits adapted to engage endwise with apertures in the bearing plate.

6. A hearing mounting according to claim 4 wherein each rod has two throughways formed in its stem in angularly ofi'set positions and set screws for respectively fixing the positions of bits in said throughways which set screws are received in threaded apertures in the stern extending respectively axially thereof and transversely thereof, the latter opening extending from the stem beyond the shoulders of the rods.

7. In a circular knitting machine of the type specified having opposed needle cylinders the provision in combination with the rib cylinder of a bearing mounting as claimed in claim 4 wherein the bearing plate carries the bearing housing for the rib cylinder by means detachably mounting said rib cylinder bearing housing on the plate in fixed position and wherein the said supports for the bearing plateare constituted by three pillars each having a stem to engage in a clearance aperture in the bearing plate and bits fitted adjustably in throughways in the stems to take up clearance between the stems and apertures in desired manner.

8. For use in a knitting machine for supporting a bearing plate a supporting rod formed with a shouldered end portion from which a stem projects, said stem being screw-threaded part way of its length and formed with transversely arranged throughways in a. non-screwthreaded part of its length, locating bits mounted in said transversely arranged throughways and clamping screws provided in screw-threaded apertures leading transversely to said throughways for clamping the bits in adjusted position.

9. In a circular knitting machine of the type specified having opposed needle cylinders the provision in combination with the rib cylinder of a bearing mounting comprising a plate, a bearing housing for the rib cylinder bearing, fixing means securing said cylinder bearing housing in fixed position on said plate, a bearing housing for a cylinder drive shaft bearing, means securing said drive shaft bearing housing to said plate in fixed position in relation to said cylinder bearing housing, spaced supports for the plate, means for locating the plate in relation to said supports, said locating means comprising at each support an interengaging stem and apertured portion formed one on the plate and the other on the support and providing clearance for adjustment of the plate relatively to the supports and bits adjustable in transverse throughways in the stems to take up the clearance between them and the apertures, and means for securing the plate to the said supports.

References Cited in the file of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS 462,614 Great Britain Mar. 12, 1937 508,305 Great Britain Jan. 31, 1952. 285,748 Switzerland Jan. 5, 1953 

